ARM Targets Mobile Security with Joint Venture

Chip heavyweight ARM said today it is
teaming up with Gemalto and Germany's Giesecke & Devrient on a three-way
joint venture targeting mobile security.

The companies hope to create a
"common security standard" for services running on smartphones,
tablets and other connected devices like gaming consoles and smart televisions.

The standard could find use in
applications ranging from digital movie rentals to mobile payments, the chief
executives of ARM and Gemalto said in the announcement.

"The integration of the hardware,
software and services necessary for system-wide security has been slow,” ARM
CEO Warren East said in a statement. "I am confident that this new joint
venture will accelerate the adoption of a common security standard, enabling a
vibrant ecosystem of secure service providers to emerge."

Ensuring the mobile environment is
secure has become increasingly important as a growing number of financial
transactions are conducted on smartphones and tablets.

The joint venture will first focus on
creating a common, secure environment for software programs. Gemalto and
Giesecke & Devrient, both longstanding partners with ARM, will handle the
software side of the initiative, which will be based on ARM's TrustZone
security technology.

Gemalto specializes in digital security.
Giesecke & Devrient targets the payments market, and its products include protection
for mobile payments and banking services on Android smartphones.

ARM will own 40 percent of the company,
with Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient splitting the remaining 60 percent
stake evenly between each other.

“Our combined efforts will result in the
ecosystem as a whole being able to capitalize on the built-in security
architectures, especially for transient data such as encryption keys for
digital movie rentals, and reduce uncertainties for service providers wanting
to launch and manage new services," Gemalto CEO Olivier Piou said in a
statement.

Giesecke & Devrient CEO Karsten
Ottenberg said in the announcement that the mass-market development of a secure
application environment was "complementary" to existing secure
elements.